Louisville vs Duke Odds, Preview and Prediction

• Duke host Louisville in an ACC matchup on Thursday night
• The game will be televised on ESPN at 7pm in which the Cardinals are near three-touchdown home favorites
• Read below for odds, analysis and pick

Louisville (5-5) will be looking to tune-up for its game against in-state rival Kentucky, when they travel to face lowly Duke (3-7) this week. The game will be broadcast on ESPN, Thursday night at 7pm EST.

Louisville is coming off what some feel is the most impressive performance of its season. The Cardinals thrashed Syracuse 41-3 last week. It was a game that held special significance to fans. It marked the retirement of Heisman Winner Lamar Jackson’s jersey.

Duke comes into this one as rumors swirl about its Head Coach retiring. Adding to that, it’s been a year that has been completely sideways for the Blue Devils. They just lost their sixth straight game and it wasn’t close. Duke fell to Virginia Tech by a final score of 48-17. They’ll be hoping to grab a glimmer of hope in these final two games.

Duke vs Louisville Odds

Odds via DraftKings on November 17th

The public is backing the Cardinals, as 67% of the bets ATS are on Louisville to cover the large number.

Is Malik Cunningham the Most Underrated Player in the Country?

It’s impossible to answer this, but it feels without certainty that he’s one of the more undervalued QBs out there. Despite his team’s performance, Cunningham has had the best season of his career. He’s been efficient through the air, on the ground and is the heart of this Louisville Football team.

The key to a good relationship between a QB and their bigs:

Feed 'em 🍽@UofLFootball @MalikMalikc10 pic.twitter.com/Iqkz0FG1nX

— ACC Network (@accnetwork) November 16, 2021

Here are a few of the impressive leaderboards Cunningham is on:

• He ranks 16th in the country in QBR. He’s actually been in the top 20 of that category each season he’s started. If he finishes in the top 20 this season, he’ll be the only QB of 2021 to do that for three consecutive seasons
• He ranks fourth in the country in rushing yards for a Quarterback. Cunningham is the last ACC QB to have consecutive rushing seasons of over 500 rushing yards since Lamar Jackson. He actually has an outside shot of surpassing the 1,000 yard mark this season with a strong finish to the year.
• Cunningham ranks fourth in the country in rushing touchdowns. He is just one short of tied for first on that list. The three others ahead of him are all running backs. This list includes Michigan State Heisman Candidate Kenneth Walker.

If Cunningham isn’t the most underrated player in the country, he’s the most underrated QB in the country. If you haven’t heard the name, and I’m assuming plenty haven’t, Thursday night offers a great chance to watch him play.

Will Dave Cutcliffe Motivate Duke?

Normally this is a spot where I would highlight something about Duke. I would talk about which element I viewed the most critical to handicapping this matchup – but what can you say? The wheels have completely fallen off for this Duke program.

Duke football: David Cutcliffe retirement looming, per report https://t.co/LD0DW17JHy via @TheDevilsDen

— Adam Rowe (@AdamRoweTDD) November 14, 2021

Duke just lost it’s sixth straight game last week. All but one of those losses have been by double-digits. They have the third worst scoring margin in their last three games of any team in College Football. That number is sitting at a dreadful -31.3. Plainly put, they haven’t been close. It’s one of those things that leaves you speechless.

On Tuesday afternoon, multiple reports surfaced that Cutcliffe was mulling retirement at the end of the season. By now, it seems likely that this will happen. Is this something that could provide extra motivation for the Blue Devils? Does the Duke crowd seemingly get a little more amped in an effort to show some love to their legendary Head Coach?

It’s hard to say, but it may be the only thing that can help them on Thursday night.

Louisville vs Duke Prediction

You’ve probably already guessed that I’m going with a Louisville bet here. You may not have guessed we are going an unconventional route.

Former teammates Lamar Jackson and Malik Cunningham pic.twitter.com/X44NGSMhhw

— Eric Crawford (@ericcrawford) November 13, 2021

I expect Louisville to start very quickly on Thursday night. They’ve made a habit of that lately. On the other end, Duke has made quite a habit of slow starts. Louisville is averaging 11.7 1st quarter points in it’s last three games. Duke is averaging 4.0 first quarter points in it’s last three games.

I’ll look to bet Louisville on the first quarter spread. If they don’t cover that, I’ll double down on their live number.

• Pick: Louisville 1st Quarter -6.5 (-115), look to double-down live if necessary